Friday's HOT MIC

Welcome to HOT MIC, PJ Media's new daily liveblog. Join our editors and contributors for news updates and conversation throughout the day, and add your thoughts to the mix in our comments section at the bottom or by clicking on the comment bubbles on individual posts. Click here or scroll down to read Liz Sheld's Morning Briefing.

If you’re guessing that the show has constantly drawn parallels between this Hydra dystopia and Trump’s election you would be right. In one recent episode, one of the male characters, who is now leading Hydra and sporting what Samantha Bee would call “Nazi hair,” beats up a female character and comments off-handedly that he warned her to tell the truth but “nevertheless, she persisted.”

In the most recent episode, the Shield agents, who are all slowly coming to their senses about who they really are, take over Hydra’s favorite news network and broadcast a pirate video. As you can see below, this is agent Phil Coulson (actor Clark Gregg) talking about “alternative facts” and inviting people to join the resistance. “I’m choosing to stand up, to become a part of something bigger,” he says. All that’s missing is a pussy hat.

The show started off as a weak X-Files clone, finally found its footing as a fun set of side stories in the Marvel movie universe, and has now descended into SJW fantasyland.

Michael, it's interesting that in one breath you criticize Kasich and in the next, Sasse. The men are polar opposites on ObamaCare. On the one hand you have Kasich, Medicaid expansion's biggest Republican cheerleader. On the other, Sasse, who at least knows the right answer when asked if the government should be in charge of our health care. If we had 51 more senators who could answer that question correctly, Republicans wouldn't at this very moment be bargaining over how much government-controlled health care they can get away with supporting.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Friday refused to rule out running for president on Friday but said it’s “unlikely.” “In terms of politics, I don’t know what the future brings, but I know it’s in front of me,” Kasich told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington.

Kasich said that even after he leaves the governorship, he plans to raise money and keep a team of advisers and consultants in place so that he can remain active politically and vocal on policy issues. But he insisted that that effort, and the new book he’s now promoting, is not to set up a presidential bid.

While Kasich has spoken at length about the GOP diverging from his own views, he reiterated Friday that he’s still a Republican. “I’m not giving up on my party,” he said. But he believes the political landscape is changing with the rise of independents and that a well-funded independent could win the presidency.

If you've ever had a chance to see Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke in person, you know what an impressive man he is. And what a political asset he could be to the national GOP. So this seems like good news:

The White House is considering David Clarke, the sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, for a position at the Department of Homeland Security, three people familiar with the administration’s planning told POLITICO.

Clarke is in line to be appointed as assistant secretary at DHS’ Office of Partnership and Engagement, which coordinates outreach to state, local and tribal officials and law enforcement. The position does not require Senate confirmation. A senior administration official cautioned it’s “not a done deal yet.”

Clarke, a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, has long been rumored as a possible candidate for a job in the administration and met with Trump in November at Trump Tower. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last year.

Naturally, the Democrats are hating on this possibility.

He has come under fire in recent days amid revelations about the case of Terrill Thomas, who died of dehydration last year at the Milwaukee County Jail after guards turned off the water in his cell. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, has said he won’t remove Clarke from office over Thomas’ death.

Clarke also has faced criticism for participating in a National Rifle Association-backed trip to Russia in 2015, where he and other members of the group’s delegation reportedly met with Dmitry Rogozin, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deputies. Rogozin was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2014.

At this point, President Trump could nominate Jesus of Nazareth, the Dalai Lama and the Buddha himself, and they, too, would come "under fire" and "face criticism" merely for existing,